Oct 14, 2025

Fan coil units (FCUs) are compact, versatile HVAC devices designed to provide heating and cooling within individual rooms or zones of a building. They consist of a fan and a coil, which uses hot or chilled water (or refrigerant) supplied by a central plant. FCUs deliver targeted comfort by drawing in room air, passing it over the coil, and then distributing conditioned air back into the space. Ducted units also provide fresh air ventilation, while non-ducted units use recirculated room air. FCUs come in a range of mounting options, making them suitable for a range of residential and commercial applications.

With FCU’s in abundant use across retail, hospitality, offices and homes, its vital decision makers have access to accurate data when specifying products. The Eurovent Certified Performance programme for Fan Coil Units (FCUs) provides independently verified performance data, which is crucial in making sustainable, reliable product choices.

Why do we need fan coil certification?

When specifying a FCU several performance criteria should be carefully evaluated to ensure comfort, efficiency, and long-term reliability. Key considerations include:

• Cooling and heating output: Should be matched to the building’s load requirements to avoid under- or over-sizing.
• Noise levels: Critical for occupant comfort, particularly in residential, hospitality, and office applications where quiet operation is essential.
• Energy efficiency: High-efficiency motors and variable-speed fans reduce operating costs and improve sustainability.
• Airflow capacity: Determines how effectively the unit can circulate and condition air within the room.

Additional considerations include:

• Control options: From simple thermostats to advanced building management system (BMS) integration, controls play a vital role in optimising comfort and energy use.
• Filtration quality: Basic filters are standard, but higher-grade filtration may be needed in environments with stricter indoor air quality requirements.
• Maintenance accessibility: Easy access for cleaning coils, changing filters, and servicing components extends system life and minimises downtime.

By assessing these factors, decision-makers can select FCUs that deliver not only effective climate control but also support wider goals such as energy efficiency, occupant well-being, and compliance with building standards.

However, if performance information is incorrect, it can lead to poor system selection, with decision makers unknowingly selecting products that will not perform as advertised.

Underperforming FCUs can:

• Fail to deliver the cooling or heating capacity required or deliver unstable temperatures
• Consume excess energy, raising running costs
• Incur a larger carbon footprint
• Be more prone to faults and breakdown, or excess noise as they will have to work harder to reach desired temperatures
• Not meet regulatory compliance.

Third-party evaluation via Eurovent Certification removes this risk, ensuring that products perform as advertised.

What products are included?

The Eurovent Certified Performance programme scope for Fan Coil Units (FCU) applies to FCUs using hot or chilled water. It concerns both non ducted and ducted fan coils:

• Non-ducted units: FCUs with air flow less than 0.7 m³/s and a published external static duct pressure at 40 Pa maximum
• Ducted units: FCUs up to 1 m³/s airflow and 300 Pa available pressure
• District cooling units and 60 Hz units can be certified as an option.

Participating companies must certify all production models within the scope of the programme. Selection tools (software) are checked and certified.

What is certified?

For the surveillance procedure, the number of units to be tested each year will be proportional to the number of basic models listed in the Directory, in an amount equal to 17% for fan coil units with a minimum of one test.

Main certified characteristics and acceptance criteria includes:

• Sensible capacity* **: −8%
• Total cooling & heating capacity * **: −7%
• Water pressure drop : Max (1 kPa; +20%)
• Unit power input : Max (1W ; +10%)
• A-weighted sound power: +2 dB(A)
• Air flow rate: −10%
• Available static pressure: 50 Pa for medium speed and resulting pressure for other speeds
• FCEER & FCCOP
• Eurovent energy efficiency class.

(*) At standard and non-standard conditions

(**) Acceptance criteria for capacities are increased by 2% for variable speed units.

What are the testing standards?

FCUs certified under this Eurovent Certified Performance programme are tested to:

• EN 1397 “Hydronic room fan coil units – test procedures for establishing the performance
• EN 16583 “Hydronic room fan coil units –determination of the sound power level”.

You can find out more about the certification rules and requirements in the Technical Certification Rules and Certification Manual on our Eurovent Certified Performance programme for Fan Coil Units page.

Why choose Eurovent Certified Performance?

Eurovent Certified Performance for Fan Coil Units offers a comprehensive, independent and impartial certification programme, which goes far beyond laboratory testing alone.

This programme includes:

• Independent laboratory tests
• Factory audits
• Software certification
• Full analysis and validation of all supplied data (including marketing materials)
• Surveillance process to ensure continued conformity.

Evaluation protocols are uniform to ensure the certification process is fair and equal for all manufacturers. Eurovent Certification:

• Evaluates FCUs according to the same criteria
• Expresses results in the same unit of measurement, regardless of the country where the products are manufactured or marketed
• Ensures all products within the programme go through exactly the same certification, auditing and surveillance process
• Impartiality standards are kept high as manufacturers and laboratories have no direct contact, keeping the process clear of any bias
• Additionally, products to be tested can be taken from the production line or factory stock, ensuring the product tested is exactly the same as those leaving the production line.

As all FCUs go through the same process, decision makers can directly compare this data when making product decisions, via the free to access certified product directory.

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